On Jan 10 of this year, Boat Over the Hill brought up the rear – 18 lengths back – in a cheap ($5,000) claiming race at Parx. This race, turns out, came just eight days after the last one – in which he finished almost 12 lengths back. In all, Boat was put to the whip 51 times, almost all of the claiming variety (meaning he was “For Sale” a lot).
In his final 22 races, he was under the yoke of Patricia Farro, who, because subsidized-Parx (the venue for 21 of those final 22) pays first-last, was laughing all the way to the bank. On Mar 17, the then-five-year-old was “found dead” in his Parx stall.
In a seven-race “career,” all at Charles Town, Spinish “won” just once. The other six:
Dec 12, 2020: last
Mar 17, 2021: last
May 6, 2021: second-to-last
Feb 2, 2022: second-to-last
Nov 17, 2022: second-to-last
Nov 26, 2022: last
In those six races, he finished a combined 87+ lengths back, or about 15 per race. On Feb 24 of this year, Spinish, just four, was killed training at CT. His exploiters from beginning to end: O’Sullivan Farms, Javier Contreras. And like Parx, CT, being a taxpayer-funded racino, pays first-last. So, those “connections” took home over $14K.
This is subsidized horseracing.
There should be no tax supported subsidies what so ever! Let this ” crooked,crummy, gamboling” game sink or swim on its own generated $$ derived from wagering. Use the taxes for better education , health care & basic infrastructure that we all rely on instead.
Amen. Thank you, Fred and Joan! I agree with you on all points!!!!!!!!!!!
This deplorable industry should not be rewarded for Animal Cruelty (including locking horses up in stalls for 23-hours a day, 7 days a week, and the morally depraved killing of horses on the racetrack, or near the racetrack, or anywhere else because of the racetrack) and Racketeering with government subsidies that should be going to the basic needs of our society such as education.
This deplorable industry should be punished for their crimes and misdeeds!
Funding crime is not a good thing at all! That’s what the states that subsidize horseracing are doing: Pennsylvania and New York, among other states in the USA, are literally funding crime and perpetuating organized horseracing crime. The criminal activity in horseracing is rampant. This is an outrageous miscarriage of justice.
Years ago “in the money” was a slang phrase that originated from horse racing meaning you collected on your bet if your horse finished first, second or third [win, place, show] Purse money of the race was often paid up till fifth place. But by implementing these “participation trophies” , i.e., show up, jog around the track, no matter how infirm, or unsound your charges are, and you collect a paycheck, is both animal abuse AND money grabbing at it’s worst.
Well, why not? Hey, trainers, owners, are you short on cash? Enter your horse, and no matter what happens, you still collect money! Sounds like a win/win, no? Yeah, it sure is, that is, if you have no problem looking in the mirror and seeing that disgusting, despicable money-grubbing abusive louse looking back at you.
The sorry state of affairs in horse racing today can, among many other factors, also be channeled back to this obscene and denigrating practice. The ‘connections’ laugh all the way to the bank, but the horses suffer and the bettors lose.
Any wonder why I no longer have any part whatsoever in this horrible endeavor anymore?
As always, I urge those who still bet on this morally depraved, and now, more than ever, this incessantly crooked and cheating industry, to stop.
-Joe
As we see, these subsidies just ensure more abuse and misery for the horses.
The payoff for the politicians is not so obvious.
Exactly! Who is/are your “friendly, local” grifter/grifters in the state and local government accepting bribes and kickbacks, etc.to keep this disgusting display of sadistic indifference to the horses AND cheating the “legal” Pari-mutuel gamblers as well through racketeering and all of that?